Native American Cultures

I chose to do my culture immersion project on Native American cultures, because I had very little knowledge about them beyond a few movies and what I learned about in high school American history class, which was from the perspective of the white not the indigenous people. I was aware of some of the stereotypes, for example the perception that they are wild or savage, that they drink a lot, sell cheap smokes, that they gamble lots, the rich of them run casinos, and that they worship in strange ways. They also keep to themselves on the reservations and don't go to regular schools, and often protest oil pipelines. I knew some of the names of the tribes but didn't know that they were tribes, such as the Cherokee (Jeep), Iowa (state), Missouria …show more content…
The introduction event in the powwow was a dance to honor the elders and salute to the flag and the ones who served. I did not know then that there was a long history of Native Americans who served in the armed forces. They asked them to go to the middle of the circle to be honored. The announcer from the Redhawk Native American Arts Council,Tchin (Blackfoot, Narragansett), talked about how the elders are the core of society and that people who serve in the armed forces are the warriors of today's society and the ones protecting everyone else in our collective tribe. When I later went to the National Museum of the American Indians, I realized that there is a long history of Native Americans who served in every war the United States has been in. Reading online I found out that the Cherokee tribe and others have fighting alongside the colonists since 1688 with the French Indian war. Native American fought in every war …show more content…
According to Robert T. Carter, “Awareness begins with the recognition that everyone possess a racial and cultural heritage…. Overcoming this barrier requires people of color to understand their own racial identity development, to make distinctions between intentional and unintentional racism. … persons of color must begin to realize that much work also has to occur among themselves…. Understanding the worldview of visible racial/ethnic groups means acquiring accurate information related to the cultural heritage, life experience, and historical background of the diverse groups in our society….it is not just racial-cultural differences that are important, but how these differences are perceived by our society and the meaning attached to them...racial cultural counseling competence means that the therapeutic transactions that occur between counselor and racially different clients must be characterized by a wide repertoire of helping reponses...The ability to engage in indigenous healing practices or utilize indigenous healing systems is another racial cultural skill...Counselors must begin to accept indigenous healing practices as legitimate means of helping. ” (P 9-11) However, I’m barely scratching the surface of understanding what it is like to be Native